Is there a silver lining for the Kentucky loss at Tennessee

John Calipari and his team didn't know which way to go in Tuesday's loss at Tennessee. (Vicky Graff Photo)

I’m sure most people have heard the phrase “every cloud has a silver lining” but maybe never knew where it came from. Well, in the year 1634 poet John Milton, the author of “Paradise Lost” among other works, penned a poem entitled “Comus: A Mask Presented at Ludlow Castle” that included a line that read, “Was I deceived or did a sable cloud turn forth her silver lining in the night?”

Now, after the 76-63 beatdown that Kentucky suffered at Tennessee,  UK fans might be asking the same thing. Well, not in those exact words but most Kentucky fans on Tuesday night definitely saw a sable cloud in the form of the Tennessee Volunteers rain on the Cats’ parade. In fact, they dumped a deluge on what had been the red-hot Cats.

But like Milton’s sable cloud, I believe this loss to the Volunteers could also prove to have a silver lining, several in fact.

First, this team, as Alabama Football Coach Nick Saban so aptly likes to put it, had swallowed all the “rat poison.” National media members were picking the Cats as a 1-seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. Oscar Tshiewbe was being touted as Player of the Year. Most college basketball analysts were saying this was the best Kentucky team since at least the 2015 team that finished 38-1.

Even former UK coach and current Iona head man Rick Pitino got in on the act saying, “This is the best Kentucky team I have watched in years. They defend, unselfish, shoot and fundamentally sound at both ends. One of my five that could cut down the nets!!”.

This loss should clear out a lot of that “clutter” as John Calipari likes to call media attention and help the team focus on what is important, getting better individually and as a team.

Secondly, as the Cats find themselves in NCAA games where they are shooting poorly or not bringing energy on defense, or not getting the type of calls they feel they should get, going forward they can think about what they need to do differently individually and as a team to correct that during the game.

By their own accounts, they mentioned not providing the effort that was necessary to win this game against this team in a hostile environment. Jacob Toppin said, “It’s a wake-up call. Now we’re  going to dial back and we’re  going to lock in and we’re going to go back to dominating the game how we were.”  

Hopefully, when they get into this same type of tight spot in an NCAA Tournament game (and they will), they can think back on what didn’t work in this game and not repeat that same scenario again.

Lastly, quite honestly, Calipari is still learning how to play these guys and in what situation each player will be most effective and will most benefit the team. That’s why he threw guys in for a couple of minutes to see if they would step up or step back. Unfortunately, on this night in a hostile arena most of the bench players stepped back.

Toppin and Lance Ware gave the Cats some quality minutes but it seemed like the rest of the bench — Collins, Hopkins, and Allen — were in over their heads. Knowing that, Calipari has to decide over these last four games of the regular season and any games in the SEC Tournament whether he will continue to try to extend his bench or stick with the eight players that have been consistently productive over the Cats’ last winning streak.

The bottom line of this loss is that productive things should happen for all the players if they will do as Calipari said and “own it.”  He also should “own it” and I’m sure he already has. I’m sure he is already thinking about how his team can play differently in their next road game when they face a very hot Arkansas team on the road Feb. 23rd in Fayetteville.

Unless he and his coaching staff can find the silver linings in this last loss and implement them before their next road game the Cats could see another sable cloud dumping on their parade  — only this time it will be with some angry Razorbacks in Bud Walton Arena.